Detritus

This game began as an experiment in different Twine mechanics. It is a game in five parts, with backgrounds and sometimes sounds.

Each part deals with your possessions, which are similar through the five parts. The people you play as seem quite different, though, unless your character is interested in both men and women and has numerous relationships, swinging back and forth between pessimism and optimism. It's possible, of course, but unlikely.

I enjoyed the game, but it felt a bit bloodless. All of the characters seemed kind of distant emotionally. But all of the scenarios are ones in which characters themselves are removed emotionally from their immediate surroundings, whether through shock or relief.

Finally, some of the background images made the text hard to read. But there is certainly something appealing about the game.

Detritus is an elegant game about a person's life told through the lens of that person's belongings. All the meat of the protagonist's life and everything we know about that person is implied through their possessions, and as the player, you are tasked with deciding what to pack and what to let go of in a series of moves.

A surprisingly moving little story, it's a reflection about what objects have meaning to you, what they say about you as a person, and what it means to let go of your belongings, your current life, and your identity.

This game is great for people who like IF that's more like a story than a game. There aren't any puzzles, just a poignant,bittersweet, and beautifully written story that unfolds based on the choices you make. Though the items you decide to pack and unpack each time the character moves, a story unfolds with the universal themes of memory, leaving the past behind, and deciding who you want to be.